Take action for the Hill of Tara

Imagine the Italians announced they were going to replace the Pantheon with a roundabout.

Imagine the Egyptians turned the pyramids into a shopping centre. Imagine the Chinese used the route of the Great Wall as a road.

Probably you can’t. Such things are unimaginable because none of these countries are as soullessly materialistic as the Irish are becoming. No other country would allow something like the building of the M3 through Tara and the Skyrne Valley, destroying heritage as the work goes along.

From earliest times the history of Tara and of Ireland are inextricably interwoven in legend, spirituality, politics, pride, nativity and much more. You can’t teach people to appreciate Tara the way you can teach them to appreciate a motorway.

Facts and figures can only go so far, what Tara needs is belief. It needs people who know that certain things are sacred, people who know that Ireland’s soul cannot be thrown away merely to reduce drive time, people who know that life is for living not surviving economically!

If enough of these people come forward, if enough of these people refuse to sit by and watch then others will follow and will come to understand the worth of Tara.

Less than a century ago, Ireland claimed its independence because people were willing to give everything for a belief that they were different and that being Irish set them apart. Had the British laid a finger on Tara there would have been uproar. Now it’s our own government and the damage is being allowed to happen. Surely that spirit which brought about independence is not gone; surely it’s simply lying dormant somewhere waiting to be renewed? Now is the time for renewal.
    
W.B. Yeats said, “That is no country for old men.” Clearly he was right; the old men in government seem intent on destroying what is best about Ireland for transient economic success.

Let young people be the voice for change as they once were. The youth of Ireland are the one’s who have to deal with the repercussions of these actions; we have to live on in this Ireland. What kind of Ireland do we want it to be?

What YOU can do:

 

1. Sign the Tara Protection Pledge and Sign the Online Petition.

2. Email the Minister for Heritage when he/she is appointed and let them know that Tara should be protected.

3. Write to national or local newspapers asking them to highlight the issues surrounding Tara and to encourage others to take action in protecting the Hill of Tara.

4. Go to Tara, either as part of the ongoing protest vigil or for the celebration of the summer solstice from June 20th-24th.

More information:

www.myspace.com/hilloftara
www.myspace.com/summersolsticetara
www.tarawatch.org/
SaveTara.bebo.com

By: Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin